The moon will be up soon." They went down together through the sacristy door on to the level plateaux of lawns that stretched step after step down to the dark lake.
The sky was ablaze with stars, and in the East there was a growing light in the quarter where the moon was at its rising.

The woods beyond the water were blotted masses against the sky; and the air was full of the rich fragrance of the summer night.

The two said very little, and the priest stopped on the bank as Chris stepped out along the little boarded pier that ran out among the rushes into deep water.

There was a scurry and a cry, and a moor-hen dashed out from under cover, and sped across the pond, scattering the silver points that hung there motionless, reflected from the heaven overhead.
Chris was soon ready, and stood there a moment, a pale figure in the gloom, watching the shining dots rock back again in the ripples to motionlessness.

Then he lifted his hands and plunged.
It seemed to him, as he rose to the surface again, as if he were swimming between two sides.